With Netflix still laser-focused on expanding its library of original content, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Netflix’s selection of movie titles has shrunk quite a bit over the past few years. As we highlighted just a few weeks ago, the number of movie titles on Netflix dropped by 40% over the last 5 years. Whereas Netflix boasted about 6,500 movies in 2014, that figure now stands at about 3,850.
While this might be taken to mean that Netflix’s streaming service isn’t ideal for movie lovers who tend to gravitate more towards Hollywood blockbusters than binge-worthy TV series, the data is a bit more nuanced than that. While the cumulative number of movies on Netflix has taken a dive, the streaming giant still boasts a higher number of quality movies than what you’re going find on rival streaming services like Hulu and even Disney. Put simply, Netflix offers up a lot more quality movies than you might expect.
Tackling this issue, Kill The Cable Bill did a bit of digging and found that of all the movies on Netflix, only 33 can be found on IMDB’s list of the Top 250 movies of all-time. That may not seem like a solid batting average at first glance, but it’s surprisingly higher than what you’ll find on other streaming services.
The report reads in part:
- Amazon Prime had 22 of the IMDb’s Top 250, or 9%
- Disney+ had 12 of the IMDb’s Top 250, or 5%
- Hulu had 10, or 4%
- HBO had just 2, or 1%
This is surprising on a few fronts. For starters,
Netflix’s movie selection is all the more impressive given that the company a few years ago opted not to renew its licensing deal with Epix. As a result, Netflix, in one fell swoop, lost access to thousands of films, many of which can be found on IMDB’s top 250 list, with The Wolf of Wall Street being one such example.
As Netflix continues to roll out more original TV shows than any rational human can keep up with, it’s worth remembering that the company has a solid selection of top-tier movies if you need a break from your everyday binge.
